5 Common Social Marketing Mistakes Every Listing Agent Should Avoid

January 29, 2019

Sarah Kirsch Richardson

Tru Realty

Social media has become engrained in our personal and professional lives. It’s where friends and family go to check up on each other, and where consumers go to look for a business’ legitimacy and reviews. There’s no escaping it – social media is one of the best tools to connect directly with clients or prospects. But, it has its pitfalls.

Below are some of the most common (yet avoidable!) social media mistakes listing agents make:

Informal Interactions – Social media is place where people can write just about anything they’d like, and at times it’s extremely informal. There are abbreviations, hashtags, and slang galore. However, as a professional, it is your responsibility to remain that way. Even if a prospective client uses certain verbiage or abbreviations via messenger or comments, this does not mean an agent should engage in the same way. A consumer will immediately view you differently after the professional barrier breaks down, resulting in a lack of respect for you and/or the services you offer.

Appearance & Representation on Personal Profile – You may not realize it, but oftentimes your business Facebook page is connected to your personal page. This means prospective clients could look at your personal profile, see all those clink-and-drink photos for example, and judge them as part of your business interactions. Many agents have Facebook business profiles that note their role as a real estate professional and the company they work for. That generally satisfies the requirement of Article 12, Standard of Practice 12-5, that Realtors must clearly identify themselves and their company when advertising online. But your personal Facebook profile may not include such details, and if you post listings or other advertorial material on that page, you could be violating the Code.

Sharing Without Permission – Retweeting or sharing another agent’s listing on your own social media accounts could be considered an improper advertisement of their listing. It’s an easy mistake to make. An agent visits an open house and posts about it afterwards on their timeline. It seems harmless, but this could be viewed as a breach of exclusive-representation agreements that practitioners have with their clients. The best thing to do in these cases is ask the listing agent beforehand if they are comfortable with you sharing a post about the listing.

Misspellings & Grammatical Errors – Your audience will catch even the smallest mistake and judge you for it! This could mean the difference between securing or saying goodbye to a new client. Prospects want someone they can trust with the details, and how will they trust you if you’ve misspelled a street name or confuse “their” and “there?” For grammar and punctuation, consider adding an app called Grammarly that will help you catch the mistakes.

Too Many or Not Enough Platforms – If you’re trying to be the best agent on one platform or you’re trying to manage too many platforms, you won’t reach your audience. It may seem like a good idea to try to be the top agent on Facebook, which might mean something to that community, but the reality is, you’re missing other audiences by limiting yourself. And these days, consumers expect a business to have a presence on more than one social platform. On the flip side, trying to manage too many platforms can be a disaster as well, especially if you don’t have the time or skills to keep up with all of them. Prospective clients will think you don’t have time to care for their needs if you aren’t able to respond to messages in a timely manner or don’t post consistently on all of the platforms.

Whether you’re new to the social media game or a seasoned veteran, keep these five common mistakes in mind as you continue to build your social presence.